


Snapshots and Other Bonding Moments

by shyfoxes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 4 + 1, Allura - Freeform, Childhood Friends, Coran - Freeform, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, M/M, Minor Character Death, Movie Night, POV Alternating, Pidge - Freeform, Pre-Relationship, Shiro - Freeform, Sometimes Sad Sometimes Not So Sad?, Team Bonding, keith - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 13:32:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7686454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyfoxes/pseuds/shyfoxes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hunk and Lance are constants in each other's lives, and that will never change.</p><p>Four moments between Lance & Hunk and One moment spent with Team Voltron.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snapshots and Other Bonding Moments

**1.**

Hunk has a few early memories that he sometimes mistakes for dreams.  

One in particular is sitting in his grandmother's lap with his hands over her's as she's sews to follow along and trying to repeat a song she sings under her breath. He's sure he messes up most of the words, but she smiles nonetheless, brown, wrinkled face kind and encouraging. She pushes back his bangs to kiss his forehead and keeps on singing.  

The second is going with his grandfather and older brother out to see the stars, brighter and more clear than ever when they're far away from the city. They're in an old convertible with the top down and the air a bit humid but not uncomfortable for once. When the stars start raining down, Hunk jumps to his feet and declares that he's going to bring one home for his grandmother to sew into her clothes. His brother grabs him before he can fall off the seat as his grandfather laughs.

The third is probably when he meets Lance at the beach. Hunk's no stranger to water, even if sand kind of makes him grimace. He doesn't like the squish-sink of having to walk through it, but it's worth it when he kicks off his sandals and runs headlong into the water.  

Somewhere in the back his mother calls at him to not go out far, and Hunk answers back, mouth full of water and already swimming away.  

He keeps going until his feet no longer touch the bottom and he doggy paddles out.  

The water feels great considering the heat on his back. Hunk may not be as strong a swimmer as his brother, who's apparently looking into competitive swimming, but there's nothing better than how effortless and calming just floating feels. Hunk dives under and swims down towards little groups of fish.  

One little red one strays behind and Hunk does his best to paddle after it until it bolts. Another body collides into him, making Hunk gasp before he quickly shuts his mouth. A brown boy, gangly with short hair moving with the water looks back at Hunk, startled. They both resurface as look at each other.

"You swim really good," The other boy says.  

"You, too," Hunk answers, feeling a little shy. He's usually pretty open about meeting people but he can't help the brief flutter of shyness in him. The other boy looks at him with big eyes.  

"Do you know about the fish that can change the weather?" The boy asks.  

Hunk's eyes open wide; "There's a fish like that here?"  

The boy nods vigorously. He sticks his hand out of the water towards Hunk with a cheeky grin. Hunk takes it, hands clasping together like the colorful heroes on TV do before they have to go on a great journey.  

"I'll show you, follow me!"  

They dive back down, swimming and joining schools of fish who zip by them. The boy grabs Hunk by his wrist before frantically pointing at a bright yellow fish that idly swims, looking almost jolly. Hunk and the boy resurface for a breath, but its clear they're both about to go back again to look at the weather wizard fish.  

They get close but don't touch it, the little fish zipping past their legs and around their arms before disappearing in a patch of see weed. Both boys go back up again.

"Wooah, I can't believe it," Hunk says. "You think It'll rain? I feel like he's going to make it rain."

"That's what I think, too!" The boy says. "I love the rain!"

"I like puddles," Hunk says, after he wrinkles his noses at the mention of rain. He's gotten sick once he's sure from being in the rain.  

"I do, too," The boy says, getting excited.  

They swim back to shore side by side and talking animatedly. They stop a few times to dunk under and watch the fish that pass by their toes. When they make it back to the shore and Hunk puts back on his shoes, the boy introduces himself as Lance. He points to the huge gathering of people behind him as his family; Hunk's eyes pop.  

They spend the rest of the beach day trying to make a lopsided castle that looks more like a weird hamburger than anything else.  

"Hunk," Lance says to himself. "What do you think? My sister said it once about a boy she thought was cool. I think you're a Hunk!"

Hunk considers it, wondering for a brief moment if Lance had only just forgotten his name. Lance writes his name in the sand next to his own on the top of the sandcastle though.  

The nickname apparently sticks years later.  

-

**2.**

There are many aspects of Lance's personality that Hunk considers exasperating, like his penchant for trouble and pettiness, and unnecessary dramatics. Hunk himself can be pretty dramatic, if his express reasoning to his mother about getting shots is anything to go by. He thinks he does a good fake dying reenactment, actually. But Hunk never thinks that it warrants bullying. (Lance says the same about Hunk, lunch box packed with extra snacks to share with him. The fruit snacks are a mutual favorite, especially the rocket ship shaped ones).  

So when Hunk comes from the boy's bathroom and is heading back to class, he's frozen in place when he sees Lance hit the ground, hard, and a group of boys surround him with their fists raised and their faces sinister.  

Hunk's not a fighter, not by far, he even avoids stepping on trails of ants if he can help it. All the cats that come to their elementary school recognize Hunk immediately after he gave away his carton of milk one time. Now it’s a bit of a tradition for him and Lance to take an extra milk just to give the strays.  

He watches in horror as one of the boys takes Lance up by the front of his shirt. He's already got a black eye and his lip looks split. But Lance, true to form, doesn't stop babbling. He smiles, taunting them about how easily he could break their grip and kick their butts.  

Lance is scared. When he's nervous, when he's scared, his mouth always starts running faster than his brain, and its always a good thing Hunk is there to bring back down to normal speed sometimes.  

But when the boy raises his fist, aiming no doubt for Lance's nose, Hunk runs as fast as his legs carry him and shoves the boy until he's colliding harshly with one other and sprawling across the floor.  

"Hunk!" Lance cries, struggling to his feet. "Just in time to watch me kick their butts, huh?"

"Lance," Hunk says, nervous.

The third boy is sneering. He watches as Hunk grabs Lance by his upper arm and tries to steady him on his feet. Lance slips and ends up leaning his shoulder into Hunk, head lolling as Hunk tries to ask him how many fingers he's holding up. The boy's face gets harsh instantly.  

"What a baby. You gotta get your stupid friend to come help you," The boy spits, and Lance sees red.  

Hunk tries to grab at the fabric of Lance's shirt one second too slow before Lance launches himself, bones and long, skinny limbs and all knocking the other boy flat on his behind. His punch is all bony knuckles, but he wails on the other kid with something fierce.

"Call me all the names you want but don't say mean things about Hunk!" Lance yells.  

Hunk grabs Lance by the back of his shirt and hauls him back, arms coming around Lance's torso to hold him down. The two other boys spring to their feet, one trying to help the third boy up as another threatens to punch both Hunk and Lance's face in.  

"Just try it!" Lance yells, just as a teacher pops his head out and everyone freezes.

Hunk hitches Lance up and takes off running as the bullies each scramble to escape too, leaving behind the one Lance knocked silly.  

They make it behind one of the slides before Hunk finally lets Lance go, watching worriedly as he sinks to sit down. Lance hangs his head, far too quiet for it to be normal. When his shoulders start shaking, Hunk silently sits down beside him. Lance draws his knees up to press his face into and leans towards Hunk. Their shoulders are flush together where Hunk can feel every little hitch when Lance sniffles.  

Hunk slings an arm around him and knocks the side of their heads together.

"I got you buddy," Hunk says.  

Lance swallows, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. He makes a disgusting sound when he scrunches his nose. When Hunk tells him he's gross, a watery smile makes its way over Lance's face. Lance knocks his knuckles against Hunk's side but doesn't remove his arm. They stay like that until one of the girls in their class, Marcela maybe, who knows Hunk and Lance like to hang out under the slide like it’s a clubhouse, comes to tell them their parents are in the main office.  

-

 

**3.**

Lance has only ever worn a black suit twice before in his life. The first was for an aunt's wedding, a huge ceremony on the beach that Lance couldn't understand why he couldn't attend in his swim trunks. He'd sweated in the thing, pulling unhappily at the collar and wishing he could just jump straight into the ocean and float away. The second was for his eldest sister, a much smaller, more intimate ceremony where he had danced with her, tears staining her wedding dress as she laughed at him, but squeezed his hands absolutely refused to wipe the moisture at the corners of her eye.  

But this time, Lance can't help but look at the suit, a new one because he's grown taller lately, the black pants far above his ankles, with deep regret. He wished he didn't have to put it on, but he knows he has to.  

It's for Hunk, and Lance has never second guessed in all their years of knowing each other doing anything for Hunk.  

His mother comes in, cradling his face in her warm, slightly calloused hands and helps him put it on. She ties his tie perfectly and tells him he has to be brave for Hunk because he needs him the most right now.  

Lance knows that, but it doesn't make it any less painful.

After all, Hunk's grandfather might as well have been his own grandfather. A big, perpetually smiling man, with a few teeth missing, and bone white hair that was always telling some outrageous story or other. He'd apparently wrestled this one notorious shark a total of three times. The scar on his arm was proof of the second time (but actually was just from a bad home renovation project gone hilariously wrong).  

But he also knows how Hunk looks at his grandfather, like he's seen the greatest thing in the universe. His grandfather may be a bit whacky, forgetful at times, but he was always whipping up some strange little gadget or whatnot and it had fascinated Hunk to no end.  

True to form, Hunk's garage never had a car parked in it. But it was a bit of a clubhouse for him, Lance, and Hunk's grandfather. Lance can still see the pictures he and Hunk had drawn as children together pinned up on the mini bulletin board on the wall by the workbench. Hunk and his grandfather drawn on a little hoverboard sit at the center of it all.  

Hunk is many things. A bit of a fraidy-cat, prone to tears like Lance himself, but so kind that Lance wonders why his grandfather had to go so suddenly.  

His mother's hand is an almost permanent pressure on his shoulder as they walk into the funeral home, grounding Lance as he tries to work out all the millions of things he wants to say to Hunk. He tries for light-hearted and witty but each one feels stupid even to him.  

His mother finally lets go to join his father where his youngest sister is dozing on his shoulder to give condolences to Hunk's parents. Lance looks around, only just spotting Hunk at the front of the room, looking lonely and out of place near the casket. Hunk folds in on himself.  

Lance comes up to stand beside him, hands feeling useless at his side.  

"Hey, buddy," Lance greets, trying for chipper and cracking somewhere in the middle. "I – I'm -"

Hunk reaches for his hand and Lance more than willingly wraps his fingers between Hunk's, holding tight. Hunk squeezes a few times, face scrunching but nothing really coming out. It's a bit weird considering both of them are pretty big cry babies that Hunk doesn't even shed a tear.

He's been like that since he had gone next door to Hunk's place and then rode with him in the back of his father's truck to the hospital. It was the first time Hunk hadn't wanted Lance to comfort him on the ride there, but he hadn't wanted Lance to not be by his side. It was like he was all frozen up inside.  

Hunk sniffles. "I'm going to miss him," Hunk says. A trickle of tears makes its way down Hunk's face, and Lance panics. "The house is already too quiet."

As always, Lance is 60% mouth and 40% brain. He pulls hard on Hunk's hand, swinging both of theirs a little too forcefully, though Hunk barely flinches. He might have expected it anyway.  

"You should come stay over to my place for a while then. You know there's never any quiet," Lance tries, throat squeezing. "Or I'll spend even more time with you and I'll do all the yelling to make up for it."

"I'll steal my sister's phone so she can come over and yell at me because she doesn't want to miss a call from Jason, or hide out from my mom by not doing the dishes, but you'll have to hide me - "

Hunk bites his lip, wet tracks falling over the corners of his mouth as he tugs at Lance's hand.  

"I'm not asking you to give yourself a death wish, dude," Hunk says.  

"That's the type of bros we are you know. Lance and Hunk, Hunk and Lance, Ride or Die," Lance says.  

"Can't we Ride or Bake instead? What about just Ride, like, supe up our bikes or something," Hunk says, cutting him off. "Make hoverboards."

"Hoverboards? Did your gramps teach you how to get it off the ground?"

"Yeah, of course! Magnets, dude!" Hunk says. "We wrote down and designed the whole thing together. I'll show you sometime."

Lance knows Hunk knows Lance barely gets most of the engineering and scientific stuff he spouts, but he gets behind his enthusiasm just the same. Anything for when Hunk lights up and takes over Lance's roll as motor-mouth to explain some equation or invention of whatever. Lance, people probably don't know, is one hell of a listener. If they're going to go tumbling down a hill, they're going down together.  

Hunk wipes his eyes with his suit sleeve, eyes red and face blotchy. He manages a smile nonetheless, pulling Lance to one of the pews where they sit flush together. Lance doesn't dare let go of Hunk's hand. Lance makes Hunk recount what he and his grandfather had come up with.

When the ceremony starts, Lance refuses to leave Hunk's side, even when he has to go up and say a few words, shaky and stumbling, and sits next to him until their mothers have to finally pry them apart.  

-

**4.**

It's hard being so far from home, though sometimes it seems as though they take it in stride. In the day time they're rather goofy, a trait that annoys their professors (Lance especially). At night, is when the homesickness really settles in.  

Lance can get away with a lot of things being so loud and in-your-face on a good day. But Hunk knows better when he sees Lance glance away when he thinks no one is looking, expression falling for a moment before it's back again. The same goes for Lance. He can see Hunk's nervousness and the lack of faith he has in himself. Lance is far convinced Hunk is the best engineer at the Garrison, but being shoved into the spotlight gives him slippery fingers and intense panic.  

When they finally decide to stay in their dorms like "good little bunkies", Lance waits until the mandatory lights out. He waits for the rhythmic clacking of boots on tiles outside their doors to fade before he launches himself from the top bunk.  

He almost always forgets about that bottom most step, cursing and alerting Hunk that Lance is ground-level again.  

Lance doesn't wait to ask Hunk anymore, just rips the blankets off of him and squirms his way into the bed next to Hunk. At least this time he isn't being a little shit and just flopping all over Hunk until he's forced to move over. Hunk, almost begrudgingly, shoves over, but not without companionable snark. Lance's bony elbows nearly jab him in the eye from where he's bent his arms behind his head. Hunk rests his own hands on his stomach, clasped.  

"You weren't so bad today," Lance jokes in the dark. "You threw up one time less than last time."

"Oh laugh it up, why don't you?" Hunk grumbles. Then a pause. "You think so?"

"Of course," Lance says. There's no trace of doubt in his voice. "You're a damn good engineer, bud, and better yet you're with the best pilot in this whole school!"

"I don't know, Keith got expelled, remember?"

"Who's got jokes now!" Lance squawks.  

Hunk thumps him on the chest with the back of his fist. Lance grunts. Even in the pitch black Hunk can hear Lance pouting. He glances over to confirm that yes, Lance's bottom lip is totally jutting out. The baby.  

"But, dude, you're fighter class now. You made it," Hunk adds. "Soon we'll be cruising all over space."

"Yeah," Lance jokes. "Hunk and Lance, Masters of Space Travel!"

Lance rolls over on his side, back facing Hunk as Hunk takes another quick look at him. Lance yawns and Hunk, by association, ends up yawning too. He shoves him, exclaiming a, "Dude!". Lance laughs, kicking backwards and barely grazing Hunk.

"Night Lance," Hunk says, softly.

"Yeah, Night Hunk," Lance answers.

-

 

**+1.**

Team Voltron can't save everybody and it's a bitter pill to swallow. They're the most powerful thing in the universe, but they're also ten thousand years behind and the results of today's excursion had gone swiftly south after it had all started out so well. Coran and Allura give the customary speech about how there will be hard days, but everyone can see the overwhelming shame and disappointment in the Princess's eyes as she simply bids them return and the castleships prepares to leave the planet's orbit.  

The journey from each individual hangar is a long one, and Hunk can hear the echo of his own feet. Everything inside of him feels heavy and he kind of wants to just go back to Yellow and sit in the pilot's chair like Lance has been doing lately in Blue.  

Lance is waiting for him at the end of the hangar, looking haggard and in need of ranting but nothing comes out. They stand there like that for a while before Hunk finally gets an idea.

"So," Hunk starts. "Remember how before the mission I said I did a super cool thing?"

"Yeah?" Lance says, tired.

"Well, the super cool thing was ice cream. Or like, the alien alternative. I don't know. It still kind of looks like food goo but it also tastes like ice cream. Go figure!" Hunk says, his cheerfulness maybe a little forced.

Lance's brows furrow. "Wait, are you serious? We have ice cream now?"

Hunk nods.

"Holy shit, Hunk, you're literally the best thing in this whole universe," Lance says. Hunk preens, rubbing the back of his neck as Lance keeps on. "So do we only get one flavor?"

"No, no, that's the best part!" Hunk says. "I figured out how to imitate some of the other flavors! Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, though it tastes a bit off, dude, cookie dough."

"You had me at more than one flavor," Lance says. "Let's get like a huge pile of those pillows sitting in one of the closets and make a nest and see if Pidge can make that Iron Giant movie file you keep on your flashdrive going."

"Oh man, now you're talking," Hunk says, high-fiving Lance.

They hurry out, ignoring all the aches and pains to change out of their armor. When they've piled up a couple bowls and cartons in Lance's hands, they prowl around until they find Pidge. Hunk picks her around her torso and he and Lance take off running, laughing at Pidge's indignant yelling. They dump Pidge and the ice cream and flashdrive and laptop on the pile of pillows and tell her to "make some magic" and go looking for Keith.  It's a lucky thing they'd taken to fiddling with the monitor in the room these past few space-weeks.  

They find him rummaging through the space fridge. Hunk slings him over his shoulder as Lance hip-checks the fridge door with a smug expression as Keith kicks and demands to know what is happening. They pass Shiro on the way down the hallway, where Lance just casually hooks his arm around Shiro's and tugs him along.

"Lance, Hunk," Shiro starts, sounding tired. "What the heck are you doing?"  

"Group bonding," Lance supplies. "It's all well and good to kick ass together, but sometimes you need some space ice cream and space movies, too."

"Putting space before words doesn't make it suddenly different," Keith says. He pounds a fist against Hunk's back indignantly before realizing and apologizing to Hunk who only shrugs.  

"I don't want to hear that from a guy who fell for the shirt-nose-flick trick," Lance snarks back.

"One time, Lance!" Keith says, faintly coloring. "Only once! I seriously thought I had food goo on my shirt."

"And that's why I'm clearly the better Paladin," Lance answers.

"That has nothing -"

"Guys," Shiro interrupts. "Shut up."

Hunk places Keith down next to Pidge on the pillows, who looks at her in confusion. She's shoveling something that looks like food goo in her mouth but smells a lot more like strawberries if Keith is correct.  

"Awh, Pidge! You started eating without us!" Hunk complains.  

"You snooze you lose," Pidges says, shrugging. She adjusts her glasses with a grin though. "Good job, though. Ice cream really hits the spot."

"Wait, Hunk, you figured out how to make ice cream?" Shiro cuts in. "Is that coconut? How did you even replicate that out here?"

Pidge passes him the little carton with a spoon. Shiro pops in open in no time before digging in.  

"Guys! Wait for the movie!" Lance whines. "We still need to collect Allura and Coran. Don't finish it off without us!"

"No promises," Pidge says, a bit too serious for Hunk's liking. But she breaks into a slight cackle and Hunk really doesn't like that. Lance drags Hunk out before he can grab the carton of cookie dough for him and Lance from Pidge's clutches.  

Beside her Keith points to the carton that has chocolate chip written on it. Pidge hands it to him. Keith all but sinks into the pillows, content with a bit of ice cream on his face.

"Damn, kind of makes me miss Earth," he mutters.  

Pidge snorts. "If Hunk can help me figure out how to tap into Matt's Netflix account back home, I'll be more than happy."

"Then you and Keith can watch all those animes he secretly 'doesn't watch'," Shiro adds in around a mouthful of ice cream. "Or so I've heard."

Keith beams Shiro in the face with a pillow who only laughs and ignores Keith's pissy look and indignant huff. Pidge pats his shoulder and resolves to approach him later about which ones he was into. Somehow she suspects Zoids, which she isn't opposed to.

A few moments later Allura and Coran are being pushed in by their shoulders by Hunk and Lance and directed to the pillows where Keith and Pidge are. Hunk and Lance flop back where Shiro is, narrowly missing Pidge's sharp little hands for the carton of cookie dough ice cream. Lance hands the caramel into Allura's hands with two spoons and settles back. Lance deliberately lies down on one of his arms and sets the carton between the two of them to shovel out of.  

"Hit it, Pidge!" Lance calls.

"Hit what?" Allura startles, then pauses to take another bite, expression melting.  

Pidge clicks the movie on before leaning forward a bit to ask Coran to turn the lights off. Hunk lets out a tiny squeal around his spoon the storm rages in the movie and evidences of the Giant appear. Lance grins beside him, feeling closer to home than he's felt in a while.  

On Hunk's other side, Shiro settles down, hands folded on his stomach and legs brushing Hunk's. Pidge and Keith throw pillows over Shiro and Hunk's legs and lay down close together to share a carton of ice cream. Allura relocates to Shiro's other side, as Coran flops back with his hands behind his head.  

In what probably functions as the morning, they all miss the usual training alarm time, heaped on top of each other. Lance sprawls over Hunk's chest, limbs wild. Keith winds up on Hunk's other side with Pidge wedged between his and Hunk's legs. Shiro and Allura are only a few inches away, turned towards each other but not touching, as if they had fallen asleep speaking during the movie. Coran woke only once, somehow sideways where Pidge and Keith had previously been. He took one glance at Allura, then the other Paladins and buckled back down to sleep.  

They have at least earned one off day, he figures.

 

**Author's Note:**

> -  
> tumblr xpost
> 
> I'm unsure if Hunk & Lance are actually childhood friends but I like to think of them as being so. Aside from the memory that Lance has a big family there's not much on anyone else's family, except for Pidge or Allura. I can't fully imagine Hunk being Hunk's entire whole first name? So I kind of figured maybe it's a nickname. I took a lot of liberties. 
> 
> The shirt-nose-flick trick...thing. You know that trick where someone's like, "Hey what's that on your shirt?" So you look down and they flick you on the nose. 
> 
> References to Lilo & Stitch included because I had to.


End file.
